Elemental: The Smell of Rain
by Awebeco Bento Productions
Summary: Zexion never cared for people; not his family, not his peers, nor his psychotic 'best friend'. He likes his books and the rain. Life is purely logical, until he meets the one person who changes all he knows, and helps him see life as it is; elemental.


Rain was, to say in a way most affectionate, a beautiful thing. It brought water to the world, falling from so high up without a second thought to it's fate of being undeniably splattered against the earth below. It brought the smell of the dirt out of hiding, the rich, loving smell that was usually hidden beneath that of modern day pollutants and that of the overly pungent college student standing next to you waiting for his ride. Rain itself had a lovely smell to it, one often called 'o-zone', that many people seemed to dislike. O-zone is such a cruel, ugly sounding name. I would not call it that, though I am not really one known to be so overly sentimental. Calling it 'that rain smell' in the company of others would not work toward my reputation of being the intellectual, or the reputation of being emotionally retarded.

Retardation means to slow, to stop. I use it in the most technical way, thank you very much, and if you thought otherwise it only goes to show that I am, indeed, highly intellectual and you are not. I would not use it to jab lowly at those with actual mental afflictions, nor would I use it to joke around, for I, Zexion, do not joke around, and those who do are idiots. For example: that fool of a redhead Axel; he often 'kids' around, inciting feelings of malice and annoyance from those around him. He, in fact, is a complete and total idiot, unable to think like a mature being. Of course, one should mention that Axel has psychological issues, being that of a rampant fixation with a younger male by the name of Roxas, and has been stalking him since the fifth grade. I am yet again surprised by the irresponsibility of society, for they continue to let him live amongst the socially deft. And so, taking his psychological handicaps into account, Axel was, for shame of myself, a poor example of the brain capacities of average human beings under the influence of 'good' humor.

Back to a much more pleasant topic, which much to my own chagrin, probably will not last very long, the rain. I speak of it's smell because my own sense of smell is quite developed. It is the first thing that affects me. I need not lift my head to acknowledge nor understand that there is a new presence in the room and it upsets a great many people when I skillfully ignore their every idiotic word.

The sound of the rain is also very pleasant. Many people refuse to go outside during the rain, and the silence that accompanies such decisions is very much enjoyable. It sounds of water pelting the ground and leaves, playing a sort of natural instrument, lost somewhere between a dulcimer and a harp. The sound of rain dropping from the edge of my roof and onto my metal garbage cans is a sweet melancholic sound. I prefer the rain over any other weather, for it means comfort and a brief respite from the annoyances of the mundane.

Rain can be vicious though. It comes with gales of wind sometimes, and lighting so terrible it sears the trees. It can beat one down within horrible sleets one cannot even see through, an emotional retribution. Rain can cause great damage, while giving back so much good. It is water, which means it has power over fire, and being water, it is under the power of the moon. It flows, and I can very much understand the reasons why water is a symbolic part of religion and philosophy.

There is only one thing I dislike about rain; it is wet. I hate being wet. It is uncomfortable, and I cannot touch my books when i am wet. Water destroys written and technological documentation. It is an unforgivable sin to destroy knowledge, and water is not animate, and i cannot forgive nor blame something that is inanimate. That would be idiotic of myself, but I can greatly dislike this property of rain, and therefore, I do.

--

College is a vastly overrated and overestimated institution. High School was a pain to get through, with the social struggles and the academic, and we were all told that we had to work hard to get into college. I had neither of the problems listed above, for I was hardly social and, if I may say so myself, and i can, I was above average on the levels of intellect, as compared to my peers. Still, even taking this all into consideration, the faculty thought it necessary to make me do all the pointless work involved in learning what I already knew, and that was an unnecessary hassle for me. Which was why, when i arrived at college and had expected to finally obtain work that was both challenging and meaningful, I was sorely let down to find it was easier than high school. Then again, I am not attending Harvard or Yale, or more canon, Hollow Bastion University or Disney University, as I am sure you will be surprised to find. No, I am attending the community college of Traverse Town, and at no fault of my own, I can assure you. It is because the cheap bastards in the government could not be bothered to spend the money on a worthy addition such as myself. "Why didn't your parents pay?" You may ask. Well, it is incredibly simple. My family cannot afford the pleasure of sending their child to the best of colleges. To tell the truth, my dad can barely afford sending me to the cheapest of schools.

It had been raining for the past week, and I had been enjoying my time alone in the basement foyer of the Student Life Center. Had been, because my psychotic, part time stalker of a neighbor had found me, and was continuing to be a creepy part time stalker.

"Hey, Hey Zexion! Check it out, Roxas got on the struggle team!Look, doesn't he look kick ass?" The redheaded pedophile brandished pictures of the blond teen in my face, pictures that seemed to have been taken while the photographer was hidden in bushes, behind trees, and in other nondescript places. The overpowering smell of a wood fire emanated through out the foyer, and it should be at this time I mention his fascination with fire. Only another psychological instability to his long list. I sighed, pushing his hands away, and feeling a tension headache start up.

"Axel, I'm sure that Roxas' father will try to castrate you again if you continue to stalk him. Photos of him in the locker room, no matter how remarkable a feat, is a criminal offense, and quite punishable by law." I said, hoping foolishly that reason and intelligence would win over his stupid one track brain. Of course, it did not, and the creep flashed me a smile to rival that of the young woman's in the Orbit Gum commercials.

"Oh, you're worried about me... Zex, I didn't know you had a heart."

"I do not. I have a future to worry about, which does not involve a scandal by association."

"Zeeexxx." Axel whined at me, throwing his voice into pitches not natural. I raised two fingers to my temple. Damn that poor bastard.

"What do you want?"

"Hang out with me?"

"No."

"What?! Come on Zex, it's not like you're doing anything anyway."

"Actually, I have to visit family today, thank god."

"Huh? You hate your family..."

"..."

I stood from the floor, brushing myself off as Axel tried to comprehend what I had just said. He is usually on top of these things normally, but I suppose his idiocy has grown since the last time the police picked him up for loitering outside Roxas' school. Rain pelted the glass walls of the foyer as I hooked the strap of my grey-black messenger bag with a finger and lifted it from the floor and onto my shoulder.

"Heeyy..."

By the time the utterance had left his mouth, I had already made my way through the double doors and into the grey outside. Unfortunately, I do not own an umbrella. Fortunately, my dad was ten feet in front of me with his car to pick me up.

He looked over at me when I got into the car, gold eyes cold. He put the car in gear, getting ready to pull away, when that idiot creep plastered his face against my window. Both my father and I glared at Axel in disdain, before rolling down my window and letting the fool stick his head in.

"Hey mister Xehanort, how's it goin'?" He grinned, leaning in to keep his freakishly styled hair from getting wet. My dad just glared at him, leaning his head against the window, an exasperated look on his face and a tension headache lurking behind his twitching eyes. Sadly, it is hereditary.

"What do you want Axel?"

"Well.... You know how I work for your brother and all... I kinda need a raise so i can pay my bro back for bailing me out the other day, and I was wondering if you could put in a good word for me, yeah? You know, being my neighbor and my best friend's dad..."

"Sure thing Axel, you bet." Axel grinned, oblivious to the sarcasm that was dripping from my father's words.

My dad started driving away as I simultaneously started rolling up my window. Axel had to pull his head out quick to not get himself beheaded. My dad was brooding as we drove down the street on the way from school to my uncles house. He smelled of preservative chemicals and printer ink, no doubt from his job. The ride was mostly silent, with only the sounds of the windshield wipers squeaking and water being pushed out of the way on the blacktop as our tires rolled across it at fifty miles per hour. Every so often we would drive beneath a tree, and the rain would break before crashing back against the windshield.

My uncle did not live that far away, and we reached his house in under thirty minutes. My father and I for the most part ignored each other, and were quite happy to do so, as happy as one could be when one was not a particularly upbeat person. I gathered my school things when we entered our family's long ass gravel driveway, hoping that none of my cousins were around so I could actually get some work done. While being completely bogus, I rarely can find the time to do the damn assignments my 'professors' give me. As we both walked up to the house, my uncle Ansem opened the door. My father stalked in, heading straight for the reclining shiatsu chair, ignoring my uncle. Not that my uncle truly cared.

My uncle Ansem was a psychologist, and knew my dad well enough that he knew he was stressed. Of course, anybody, save Axel, would be able to see my father was stressed.

"Riku's in the basement with some friends; you can leave your father with me."

I just nodded; there was no need for speech with my uncle basically telling me to get lost. I just thank Yevon that it was Riku and not any of my other cousins. I opened the door to the basement, not even sparing my uncle and father a second glance as i descended the stairs. I heard peals of laughter as I made my way down, wondering what my silver haired cousin was doing with who. It sounded like he was in charge of a couple of six year olds, though the mindless chattering suggested teenagers. I nearly tripped down the poorly lit staircase, stumbling to the bottom, my messenger bag banging against the back of my legs.

"Oh, hey Zexion. Dad banish you to the black depths of despair?" My cousin Riku was sitting on one of the couches that lined the walls of the basement, pushing his very stylishly layered hair over a shoulder, completely managing to look nonchalant at my less than graceful entrance. Bastard.

I merely looked at him in reply. Two pairs of identical blue eyes stared at me from the other couch, and it was almost discomforting to be at the mercy of their scrutiny. Almost, because I could not care less about Riku's friends. Riku reached out and grabbed my pocket, pulling me over to sit on his couch before gesturing toward the other inhabitants of my uncle's basement.

"Alright, This is my antisocial cousin Zexion, Zexion, you know Sora," he said, pointing to a jumpy, hyperactive brunette, who hadn't stopped talking, "He's my boyfriend and a senior in high school," this obtained a questioning eyebrow toward my cousin, who waved it off with a very relaxed attitude, though I suppose I should have guessed from the few times I had met the child to know my cousin was interested, "And this is his twin brother," he continued, pointing to the other, a blond with a _slightly_ familiar pout, "Roxas."

"Oh."

_Shit._

I had not realized that I had vocalized my sudden crashing halt of brain waves, until the blond questioned over his brother's nonstop talking.

"Oh?"

Yes, this was a very intriguing situation. My neighbor and not self-proclaimed "best friend" was stalking the brother of my cousin's boyfriend. This was just another great day in the life of Zexion. I could just let the entire thing go, pretend I was feeling under the weather, and therefore was unable to cognitively respond with an actual sentence, but the explanation of such would be a dead give away to an obvious lie. Besides, it would be irresponsible of me to allow the stalking of a teenaged boy to go uninhibited.

"For your safety and dignity, do not use public restrooms or locker rooms if you have the choice, and be aware of vantage points where strangely fixated men can take pictures without authorization."

At this point, all eyes were on me again, and the room was very quiet. Sora had actually stopped talking. I was beginning to wonder how Riku could stand to have him as a boyfriend.

"What?"

I swear, that blond just hissed at me. The nerve.

"You are the prey of a psychologically unbalanced man."

"You mean that creep Axel?" This was said by Sora, who surprisingly mirrored his brother, which was even more alarming than Roxas himself.

"Yes. I am aware of his activities, and I find it my duty to inform you that he has not ceased."

There. I've contributed toward the social, mental, and physical wellbeing of a complete and total stranger. That fills my quota for the day. Although I probably know a lot more about him than Riku does, not of my own volition, of course. The child seems unpleasant and ungrateful. Now that that is over and done with, it is time for homework.

"What do you mean, hasn't ceased? How do you know this?"

Or not...

"Unfortunately, neighbors most often manage to converse at least once in their lives."

Relief spread across Sora's face, and he looked at me almost pityingly. Roxas still had a look of pure loathing on his face, and I hoped it was not directed at me. For his sake of course.

"Then we should inform you that he was arrested, and is no longer a problem."

Poor child does not have a clue. Riku had sunk into the couch, and was trying to not exist, which he performed efficiently.

"Then this information may come as a shock to you; he has been arrest four times now, seen three different counselors, faced threats against his life from your father, and yet still managed to obtain photographs of your brothers induction onto the Struggle team."

Both Sora and Roxas gasped.

"But, but that was _today_."

Yes it was, and you can gasp about without me, I am going to do my homework.

--

My attempt at homework was, to speak in the vernacular of teenagers, an utter fail. I was throughly interrogated by my cousin's boyfriend and his brother, and after offering little to no information on my annoying redheaded neighbor, was thrown into a chaotic conversation on, believe it or not, nothing at all. I had not thought it possible to talk about nothing, unless one was actually talking about Nothing, like my Uncle Xemnas, but apparently, and quite shockingly, I was wrong. I of course did not speak, but that did not stop the teenagers from trying to get me to. Riku explained that it was rare for me to speak conversationally to people I barely know, but Sora would not cease in his attempts. I must say I find Sora's average personality to be annoyingly optimistic to my cousin's pessimistic. Then again, I suppose they do say opposites attract. The child even smelt like pure sugar cane, though I was not surprised that his brother was less sugar and more spice. Still, is that not what girls were made from? Stupid, nonsensical children's rhymes.

We managed to sit around in the basement and have 'fun' for around two hours; even the little, bitchy Roxas cracked a smile and laughed a few times, which was possibly a good sign of coping, though I suppose he may have just gotten used to the threat of a stalker. Suddenly, we heard the sound of impending doom. Which, to be fair, was rather well written, orchestra and choir included. Though I must say, my cousin's name thrown in with the Latin phrases drifted toward the narcissistic.

"Crap. Sephiroth's here."

Riku and the twins looked up at the ceiling nervously, which was completely unnecessary, unless they had some form of x-ray vision. I took the opportunity to try to at least finish reading the chapters I was supposed to be outlining. If Sephiroth was here, that meant the triplets were here, which meant that my Uncle Xemnas was here, which meant that there would soon be another tirade on Nothingness.

The brunette looked over at my cousin, and suggested, "Our house?", to which Riku nodded. Picking themselves off of the couches, Riku grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me up to a standing position. It was then I noticed that even Sora and Roxas had an inch on me, and I cursed both them and my six foot something cousin.

I was dragged upstairs, and we opened the basement door to the rest of my family. I must be adopted, cause everybody in my family is tall and silver haired. My uncle Xemnas stood in the living room, going on and on about how nothingness is eternal, while my cousin's Kadaj and Yazoo were making Loz, the third triplet, cry. Sephiroth's theme song was playing in the kitchen, and we gravitated away from that direction. Riku interrupted my uncle's rant.

"We're going over Sora's house. I'll drive Zexion home later."

We sped out of there, before Xemnas could stop us. My dad did not bother looking up, but as we ran out the door I did hear him give Xemnas Axel's inquiry.

"That kid Axel, you should fire him for being an idiot."

--

If actually meeting the kid was uncomfortable, sitting on his living room couch in his house was just an invitation for Axel to assault me for information and first hand accounts. I suppose i had a momentary lapse of judgment, but it was either this, or torture by nothingness and relatives.

Their house was very pleasant, fashionable really. Somebody had obviously put a lot of thought into the color and texture scheme of each room. It was a very nicely kept place. My father and I never bothered with trying to keep our house presentable; our sense of organization is putting our books and paperwork into piles around the house; where things are is where they are. We remember where we put things, so if someone were to organize our house, we would not be able to find anything.

Sora was something of an oddball, I would have to say. He was an incredible host, comparative to my own skills, and made sure everybody had some form of refreshment before whipping out the gaming console and beating the crap out of Riku in some arcade style fighting game. My form of hospitality is letting my guests ask for my assistance to fulfill their dietary needs. Then again, I do not service others in my house often at all.

I realized that this day was never going to end. Figuratively, of course, for a never ending day is scientifically impossible, unless the world stopped turning, but even then we count the days in segments of twenty four-hours(approximately), not the passing of the sun. I was impatient to get home and finish my homework, but it was apparently gaming night for the High Schoolers. It was already late, around seven, and the social atmosphere was killing me. I really should have just pissed Sephiroth off and gotten it over with.

They had tried to get me to play already, and it had not worked, yet they were trying again now. It was the new smell entering the house that first made me aware that Sora and Roxas had an older brother, and that he was now present. I most definitely could not hear the sound of the front door slamming shut over Sora's incessant attempts to get me to play and Roxas' argument with Riku as they had another rematch to see who actually kicked more ass, not to mention the volume on the TV was so high it sounded like there was a martial arts contest being held in their living room. I smelled him before Sora nearly kicked me in the face jumping over the couch to attack said older brother in some violent form of loving embrace, and Roxas took a break from arguing with Riku long enough to say "Hey Demyx." before glaring at Riku for a rematch after the brief distraction allowed him to win.

I turned from the open laptop on the arm of the couch, pausing from my homework to look at this newcomer. I knew he was their brother, because he had the smell of their house lightly tainting his own, but the rest of his smell was nothing like their's. He, their brother, this Demyx, was a dirty blond with a weird cross between a mohawk and mullet, blue-green eyes, and was really freakin' _tall_. He was shorter than Riku, I'd say just underneath six feet, and he was lanky, most definitely not an athlete, but he was still toned, not really all that weak. His facial structure was amazing, aesthetically pleasing, and he had this really cute smirk on his face that just worked for him. And his smell, his smell was that of rain and the ocean, a beautiful mix, and looking at him was addicting. He was.... Gorgeous. I looked at his lips, and licked my own subconsciously, thinking how nice it'd feel to kiss them, based completely of course upon novels I had read, considering the fact I've never kissed anyone before.

Riku finished beating Roxas again, and introduced me to Demyx.

"Demyx, my cousin Zexion. He's anti-conversational. Zexion, this is Demyx, Sora and Roxas' older brother, he's our age and shares Sora's love of talking."

Sora squeaked in indignation and sat on Riku, who laughed and handed him the controller to take on Roxas. Demyx turned to me, smiling unconditionally, and I couldn't feel my brain. He jumped over the back off the couch and sat next to me, and stuck out his hand. I took it, shaking and trying to remember I had no emotions and therefore, I could not blush. I let my hair, in all it's odd purple-grey glory, slide into my face, hiding the burning blush that was traitorously spreading across my face.

"Hey, I'm Demyx, though Riku just said that... But anyway, do you like music?"

What? I'm sorry, I was too busy thinking your voice was way to melodic to actually be a sound that I didn't catch that what you asked me didn't make sense to ask a person unless you had more time to know them.

"I suppose I do like music; I have never truly studied it though."

Yes, that was a normal response in terms of Zexion talk; Alright! I'm doing good. I'm doing good. No, no, I lied, I'm doing bad. I'm conjoining words, using conjunctions to start sentences, and using the words good and bad improperly. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Have you ever heard a sitar?"

A sitar? Wasn't there a talking one in that play in that movie that was unhealthily depressing that Axel replaced the name Roxanne with Roxas in that one remake of a song about a hooker?

"No, I have not; though my research indicates that it is a stringed instrument that takes years to master."

Oh Yevon, did that sound pathetic? Was I talking to much? My research? What the hell did I say that for? I sound like a complete idiot... Please, please don't hate me; I think I really want to get to know you better.

"I already mastered it; you wanna hear? Oh, wait... You doin' homework?" He, Demyx, pointed to my laptop, which had the outline of the next four modules of my psychology class on it.

I looked over at it. Yes, I'm doing homework. But to hear you play the sitar, I'm not.

"Oh... Well... My battery's dying, and I did not think ahead to bring the power cord. So, no, I am no longer doing homework."

"Yay! Follow me!!!"

What are you smirking at Riku? Battery apostrophe S is a completely acceptable form of grammatical use. And hesitance is normal. Accept not for me. Shit. Be normal, be logical, be Zexion. Be normal, be logical, be Zexion. 'Be' doesn't even sound like a real word anymore...

I followed Demyx. I followed Demyx up the stairs and nearly hyperventilated because I was in his house following him up his stairs. Something is very, very wrong with me, and once I get the moment to think about it, I will sort this out. I will. But right now I'm following Demyx up the stairs.

He lead me to a bedroom which I could only assume was his, 'cause neither Sora nor Roxas looked like they were at all interested in college level marine science, and it was just filled with the smell of Demyx. I felt a strange static feeling rise up my arms and torso to my neck, and my lower abdomen felt very odd. Demyx sat me on the bed, his bed, then grabbed a stool and a large, blue instrument from the closet, which I suppose was the sitar, though it looked nothing like the one in the movie, but it was Demyx's and that was okay. He had a grin on, like he just got something really awesome, and he was grinning at ME. I could have fainted, but I didn't, that would have been rude of me. Though thinking about it, if he knew CPR, I would gladly stop breathing for him.

"Alright, are you ready? You gotta be ready, 'cause this is awesome. Really, be ready for my awesome skillz."

He verbally spelled skills with a z... How cute and utterly impossible... I must not sigh contentedly. Be normal, be Zexion.

I nodded, keeping my face the epitome of stoic. I am doing well. Yes, I am grammatically correct, and that means I am thinking.

Not for long.

Demyx started playing and my brain melted. Not literally, of course, because it is impossible to play a musical instrument and melt brains, but it felt that way. He was happy to play his sitar for me. For me. Don't even bother asking me what he played, because I wouldn't be able to remember it for the life of me.

All I know is that it was like the rain.

--

Riku was an ass.

After Demyx played, I struggled to regain sensibility and grammatical correctness. He looked up at me, proud and expectant. I could say nothing, still completely taken by, well... him, really. Demyx deflated slightly, unsure of my thoughts. I saw this and quickly smiled at him, a very small smile though, nothing over the top. He perked up again, grinning at me and put his sitar down.

"See? I told you it was awesomeness."

I still felt static generating inside my body. Sitting on his bed, though ecstatic I was sitting on _his_ bed, I felt an overwhelming sense of foreboding and anxiety. I wasn't supposed to be there. I don't socialize with people, especially people I'm attracted to, though I've never actually been attracted to anyone before. It was wrong. Something bad was going to happen, and it is going to be my fault because I had a sudden lack of logical reasoning and did something stupid, like talking. I sound like an idiot when I talk.

After that, I tried my best to remain rational and calm. I tried to act normal without being too different from how I was before, as not to insult him in anyway. We returned to the first floor and the living room, where Sora had officially beaten both Riku and Roxas beyond the point of no return. Demyx plopped himself on the floor by Sora and challenged him. I sat down on the couch, taking that time to analyze my emotions. Demyx, the older brother of my cousin's boyfriend and my "best friend's" obsession, was somebody I had only just met, and his physical appearance was appealing. From my first impression, he was kind, very excitable, and musically gifted. These are all very laudable qualities, therefore it is understandable that I would think it beneficial to spend time with him, but one must think about what is truly affecting my decisions. I suppose it is latent hormones finally kicking in, which would mean any attempt at a relationship would be superficial and pointless. This conclusion seems correct, to save myself and he the trouble and pain of a false and faulty relationship, it is best one does not even start in the first place, though it is questionable if he would even agree to engage anyway. A problem solved and crisis averted by careful reasoning and logical deduction.

I felt much more at ease then, and because I could not return to my homework, I sat and watched Demyx and Sora play. It was approximately around the third time that Demyx beat him that Sora threw the remote down and refused to play anymore. I had to smirk at the fact that unbearable optimism had no correlation to perseverance. Riku laughed at Sora as he wrapped himself around the pouting teen. Demyx made a face some where between pouting and annoyance, and my hormones thought it was adorable. My mind thought about the facial muscles involved in orchestrating those expressions simultaneously.

Demyx turned to me and pulled a Sora; the same body speech, same wide eyed begging look, and though my mind was fighting furiously, my body won this battle. I rolled my eyes, resigning myself to my fate of being easily persuaded from this point on for my stay, and slid down to the floor, appropriating the controller so unceremoniously discarded by Sora. I do not play video games, and so I had no hope when we actually began. Once again,my body rejoiced when Demyx moved closer to me and pointed out on my controller which button did what. My mind balked at the concept that one of my peers had to teach/assist me, for I should know everything. We tried again, and I got a few hits in, before falling to Demyx's character once more. Sora and Roxas were suddenly behind me, shouting tips and combinations in my ears and shouting profanities at Demyx, who was laughing maniacally and announcing his attacks in singsong. It quickly became quite frustrating. I changed tactics, button mashing in order to keep up. It worked, and to me seemed like a form of catharsis, which made me wonder if playing video games was indeed maladaptive, as hypothesized by the psychological community and the conservative parental entity. I managed to come very close to surviving, actually blocking attacks and getting some in, but experience overcame ineptitude, and I lost again. Sora and Roxas threw up their hands in over-dramatic defeat, falling over to their sides and slamming their fists against the floor, and I simply calculated my next attack, adding into this new equation the power of button mashing.

I let out a triumphant "Ha!" when I finally K.O.'d Demyx. Sora started jumping on the couch, screeching, while Roxas stood and got all tense, pointing to the screen and yelling at me to be ready for the next round. I was, but Demyx still had the advantage of skill, and defeated me twice in a row, sending Sora back into a pout and Roxas with him. It was then that Riku, for his own sake, decided that it was getting late and he need to drive me home before our fathers had conniptions. I gathered my stuff and they, all three of them, escorted us out, talking and laughing.

The rain had stopped while we had been inside, and their front lawn was slick with wet leaves. Droplets fell from the roof of the porch onto it's wooden stairs, creating a mirror-like effect for the lights from their house. The air was frigid, temperature reduced due to atmospheric reactions, and it shocked some sensibility into me.

I tossed my messenger bag on the floor of the front of the car, and was getting in when Demyx stopped me, standing next to me from the other side of my door.

"You wanna hang out with us tomorrow?"

He asked me with a genuine smile, eyes curving in a way that suggested a natural emotion. I would have loved to, but...

"I cannot. I have work tomorrow."

He looked down, biting his lip, then looked back at me with another question in his eyes, and I stopped him before he could ask.

"I work tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I go back to school Tuesday."

"Oh."

I looked away at that point. I should not care.

"What about after school then? I could help you with your homework! It'd be like a study group!"

"I..." I started to reply, prepared to turn him down...

"...can and will be there." ...finished Riku, who was obviously not a mind reader, before pulling on the back of my shirt from the drivers seat and dragging me into the car, allowing gravity to assist the rest of my descent. Demyx grinned, shut my door, then stood with the other two and waved until we were down the street. That was when I turned to Riku angrily and glared death in his direction, though death is not a noun that is solid and nouns cannot be glared in the first place.

"Zexion's in loovvee, Zexion's in loovvee."

I punched him.

"You are an ass. You had no right to speak on my behalf and you are an ass."

"Weak. If you're gunna be pissed at me for completely assisting you in finally having social life, you need to create a better argument than 'you're an ass'."

"I have work and more important things to attend to than frivolous relationships with people I could careless in knowing."

"Oh really? Fine, let's go tell Demyx that." He jerked the car to the right, then started to the left to do a complete U-turn on the dark, quiet backstreet we were on. I grabbed the wheel.

"NO! Yevon Riku, what the hell?!!!!"

The bastard had the audacity to smirk.

"You _like_ him. It's plastered across your face."

I sputtered like the idiot I could have been had I not been born with wits.

"Wha?.. How?... How dare you even insinuate I was thinking about him in ways not appropriate for a man to be thinking about another man he doesn't even know?!"

"You're an easy read. You never get flustered over anything; nothing! Yet Demyx talks to you and you're blushing like a school girl."

"'Like a school girl' is comparative to an entity of beings that do not share the same attributes, ergo, your statement is void of any intellectual argumentative material." I stated.

Riku rolled his eyes.

"You freaked out when I was going to do a U-turn; you were _desperate_. You have feelings for him and you're unsure of what to do because you don't know how to socialize and are afraid of what could possibly happen. You only show commitment to your books and you don't trust your own feelings because you think your emotions will lead you astray. You think any relationship not based upon intellect or mutual gain is weak and therefore unnecessary. Sure, you don't really know a damn thing about Demyx or what his personality is like, but sometimes you gotta follow your Yevon-damned feelings or else you won't know what he is like and if he feels the same damn way about you. You are so smart and so stupid at the same time; you're a freakin' paradox."

What could I say to that? Riku, for all his 'I don't have anything to do with anything' demeanor, was rather observant, by far too observant for anyones well being.

His eyes don't lie.

We pulled into my driveway, a single light from my father's desk lamp in his study dimly radiating an orange glow through a dirty window. It was a dismal sight. I got out of Riku's car, slamming the door and walking toward my house. Riku backed out of the driveway and pulled alongside the sidewalk, rolling down his window.

"Just try to at least get to know him. Can it hurt to be his friend?"

Perhaps...

--

Note de Author:

Yay! This is the first singular large contribution by me, Pure White.

Yeah, It's not Peachy, as you can probably tell from the lengthy and overly blah writing. It's taken me awhile, but I've finally written a story I'm slightly proud of.

I've wanted to write a Zemyx for a while, and I'm so happy to have gotten at least this far. If you care, I will try to get the next chapter up as quickly as possible, but I have work and school, like Zexion.

Woo!!! Trivia Time!!!!

There are two times where Zexion misdiagnoses Axel. One he fixes, one he does not. What is the misdiagnoses?


End file.
